A Trainer and His Bodyguard
by yamiyugi23
Summary: Ash wants to start out on his Pokemon journey only because of his narcolepsy his mother is not sure so to put fears at rest Professor Oak finds Ash a travelling companion in the form of the legendary trainer, Red. Together the pair travel around Johto, become good friends and learn several important lessons. ProtectiveRed. Written for two challenges.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Pokémon Series, I do not have any rights to the Pokémon Series and I do not make any money from writing these fic's.**

**A/N: Written for Remi's Novel length challenge and different POV Challenge. The prompt for this chapter is Introduction and the POV for this chapter is Red's.**

**Chapter 1**

Red let out a heavy sigh as he lifted his hat off of his head and ran a hand though his short brown hair. As he walked along the cobble street that led to the Professor's lab he could not help but wonder just what was going on, why did the Professor want him of all people to do another favour for. Sure he had managed to complete the Pokedex and defeat Team Rocket and become the Pokémon Champion but still...there was no way that Red could possibly help the Professor anymore as his fame had travelled too far and no one was willing to have a Pokémon battle with him.

Placing his hat back onto his head Red did his best to ignore the pointed looks that he gained from the passerbyres only to hold himself tall and proud as he did his best not to flinch at the mixture of looks that he also received which seemed to go from hero worship all the way to fear. Not wanting to take any chances and wanting to get out of Pallet Town as fast as possible before the scared people could turn dangerous Red speed up and jogged the last few feet to Professor Oaks' lab.

'Now I know why I decided to stay in Mt. Silver for' Red thought with a groan as his hands went down to his Pokeballs on his belt on reflex as several people whispered to their Pokémon companions and pointed at him 'I sure do hope that whatever Professor Oak wants me to do for him does not involve staying in Pallet Town for any reason.'

Quickly running Red allowed his feet to carry him though the open wooden gate and entered one of many large open green fields that surrounded Professor Oak's lab. As he made the last of his way to Professor Oak's lab Red could not help but to let out a sigh of relief as he felt the glares and stares from the people of Pallet Town disappeared.

As Red got closer and closer to the lab and he spotted the familiar windmill going around and around a happier more relaxed smile appeared on his face as he found extra speed and ran the last five minutes to Professor Oak's lab.

In no time at all Red found himself opening up the main door to Professor Oak's lab and unable to help himself from doing so Red allowed himself to fall back into his old habit and called out.

"Professor Oak! I'm here!" Red called out as he entered the lab, being careful not to slam the door as he did not want to startle any Pokémon.

Red did not have to wait long as a few seconds later a familiar man appeared in a white lab coat with a small smile on his face.

"Hello Red, it is nice to see you again," Professor Oak said kindly as he held his hand out to Red, "Though...I do wish that it could be under better conditions..."

"Is something wrong Professor?" Red asked with a confused frown on his face as he shook the Professor's hand, "Does this have something to do with why you called me here?"

"That it does Red," Professor Oak replied with a sad look over his shoulder, "How would you feel about travelling with a friend of mine who is also a trainer to a new region?"

"Sounds interesting but I would like to know what region we would be going to and I would like to meet my maybe travelling companion," Red answered as a thoughtful expression appeared on his face, a new region meant no one would treat him how they did in Kanto and he would be able to find new people that would be willing to battle with him and be friends.

"Very well, I see no problem with that but I have to warn you about something first," Professor Oak said as his face suddenly took on a depressed look, "The trainer who will be your travelling companion is Ash Ketchum and his Pokémon Pikachu. Normally I would have no problem with the a Trainer and their Pokémon going off on a journey but Ash is...well his a bit different from the normal trainer. Both Ash's mother and myself feel that Ash would benefit from going on a Pokémon journey..."

"I am sensing a but here," Red said slowly as he eyed the Pokémon Professor, "What are you not telling me?"

"Ash..he suffers from a sleep disorder called Narcolepsy, I won't bore you with detail Red but Ash can fall asleep at any time in any place which is why his mother and I are so worried about him for," Professor Oak said as he gave Red a serious look, "What if Ash is climbing up a cliff or battling against a particular angry Pokémon who might seriously hurt him and he has an attack and falls asleep?"

"I understand Professor and I will travel with Ash but only on two conditions," Red said seriously as he looked Professor Oak straight in the eyes, "I will only travel with Ash if he wants me to and if we do not travel around the Kanto region. I know with it being Ash's first journey and all its sort of tradition but I want to get away from all the glares and whispers. Why do you think I normally stay hidden away for?"

"Very well, if it is alright with both you and Ash you can travel around the Johto region together, I have a couple of tickets for the journey that I was going to give to Gary if he decided he wanted to travel around the Johto region instead of the Kanto region but he chose to travel around the Kanto region," Professor Oak said as he reached into his white lab coat and pulled out an envelope, "If you give these tickets to the man in the cafe opposite my lab with an Abra he'll use teleport to take you to the forest just outside of New Bark town."

"Thank you Professor," Red said as he accepted the envelope from the Professor and slipped it into his jacket pocket, "Can I met Ash then? Is he ready to go straight from here? I made sure to stock up on supplies on my way here so I'm ready to go whenever if Ash agrees and we can get along."

"Well then let's make the introduction so you can both get going then," Professor Oak said as he turned to face the way he had come, "Ash is already to go, his said his goodbyes and his been bonding with his starter Pokémon while we wait for you."

"What Pokémon did he chose? Bulbasaur? Squirtle? Charmander?" Red asked as he tried to guess, you could learn a lot about a trainer by their Pokémon.

"No, it turns out that this year I did not have enough Pokémon to give out to the new trainers so I gave him another sort of Pokémon," Professor Oak said as he walked back into his lab, "I gave him a wild Pikachu that I caught the other day and-"

"Professor!" Red cried out in shock as he ran to catch up with Professor Oak, "You gave a new trainer a wild Pokémon to begin with?"

"I did and I know that the two of them will become best friends, I have a feeling in my stomach," Professor Oak said with a calm look as he came to a half open door and stopped, "Are you ready to met Ash?"

Red took a deep breath and nodded his head, in his mind he did his best to try and picture just what his maybe new travelling companion might look like through the only thing he could decide on was that they were male, a new trainer and had a Pikachu. Even though he was not sure about this new trainer there was one major plus going for Red, it would get him out of not only Pallet Town but the Kanto region. It would be a new start for him...through first he would have to met and introduce himself to Ash. Turning to look at Professor Oak Red nodded his head causing Professor Oak to give him a smile.

"Alright, let's do this then," Professor Oak said as he pushed the door open and walked into the large main room of his lab.

Following Professor Oak into the main room Red scanned over the room trying to spot Ash and Pikachu. His black eyes landed on a small figure sitting on the floor in the middle of the room with a happy Pikachu 'talking' like mad to the small human.

'His so small compared to how I was back then' Red thought as he took in the boy who looked like a miniature version of him 'He looks like a strong gust of wind could blow him over.'

"Ash! I have your travelling companion with me," Professor Oak called out alerting the new trainer to their arrival.

As Red's and Ash's eyes connected and they looked at each other for the first time Red found himself with a need to protect Ash. The small innocent form Ash processed seemed to call out to Red, asking for protection and it was not a call Red was going to ignore. Ash had found himself a protector.

**To Be Continued...**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Pokémon Series, I do not have any rights to the Pokémon Series and I do not make any money from writing these fic's.**

**A/N: Written for Remi's Novel length challenge and different POV Challenge. The prompt for this chapter is Complicated and the POV for this chapter is Ash's.**

**Chapter 2**

Ash gulped nervously as he watched the kind Professor leave, slowly he sunk to the floor unable to hide his fear. Inside his insecurities ate him alive, he knew that he was different from others, he was smaller, he kept falling asleep in weird situations and he had to take horrible tasting medicine to prevent him from falling asleep through it did not always work.

"I'm scared Pikachu," Ash said softly catching the mouse Pokémon's attention who up until now had been doing its best to ignore and hate his new trainer, "What if this person does not like me? What if they are angry about having to travel around Johto with...with someone like me?"

With wide confused eyes Ash looked up at his Pikachu who were still standing on the lab's metal table from his place on the floor. Sadness entered his eyes as Ash stared at Pikachu with eyes full of emotion causing Pikachu to frown in confusion. This human was nothing like the ones that he had met so far and for some strange reason Pikachu did not like the idea of his new trainer being upset.

Sniffling softly and trying his best to pull himself together Ash let out a startled gasp of surprise as his new Pokémon partner suddenly jumped down from the cold lab table only to land in front of him with a small artistic twist as he landed.

Inside Pikachu happiness bubbled away happily as Ash let out a watery laugh.

"Thanks Pikachu, I hope we can become good friends," Ash said with a smile which in Pikachu's opinion suited the young male much better, "But...I want to become a Pokémon trainer and I want to meet lots of new Pokémon who I can make friends with but with how I keep falling asleep it makes things complicated. Mum thinks that I should not travel while also thinking that travelling would do me some good so we sort of came to an agreement, I would travel with another person."

Ash watched as Pikachu nodded his head in understanding causing Ash to let out a sigh of relief. He was always thankful that Pokémon seemed to understand things so much better than humans could ever even start to try understand.

"Whoever this person is that Professor Oak has found to travel with me I hope they are nice," Ash said as he moved to sit cross legged on the tiled floor, "If they were to be mean I do not think that I could cope. After all we would be together all the time for so long! If we cannot be friends then I do not think that we could travel together..."

Letting out a deep heavy sigh Ash looked down at his hands trying to collect his thoughts only to let out a cry of surprise and shock when he suddenly found himself with Pikachu's face shoved right up to his, their noses touching.

"P-Pikachu?" Ash asked in shock as he pulled away only for the electric mouse Pokémon to nuzzle Ash's stomach comfortingly, "Thanks buddy, at least we have each other right?"

Pikachu nodded his head and began to ramble through neither Ash nor Pikachu seemed to care that Ash could not understand Pikachu. As Ash listened to his first ever Pokémon ramble on never stopping a warm sensation washed through him and this time it was not his body beginning to fall asleep, it was happiness at finding his first true friend.

Lost in listening to his little friend talk and watching as Pikachu waved his arms about admittedly Ash never noticed the door the door open or the arrival of two people until a familiar voice called out to him.

"Ash! I have your travelling companion here with me!" Professor Oak said causing Ash to look up in surprise.

As soon as he looked up Ash found his eyes connecting with mature black eyes, emotions washed over him as his mind ran through him. Suddenly feeling shy and unsure Ash simply gave the strange teenage a shy smile.

"It is nice to meet you, my name is Ash Ketchum and this is my friend, Pikachu," Ash said with a smile as he took in the teen's almost identical looking clothing to his, "I hope we can become friends and get to know each other as we will be spending a lot of time together."

"Me too kid, my name is Red and I'm a Pokémon trainer," Red said with a crocked grin which only got a larger smile from Ash, "It looks like I am going to be making sure you stay safe while we travel."

"Sorry about that, mum is scared that I could fall asleep in dangerous situations like during a Pokémon battle where I might accidently get hit by an attack if I all of a sudden fall asleep or fall from a cliff that I am climbing," Ash explained nervously as guilt entered him, "I am really sorry about this, I know you must be frustrated about having to travel with a total rookie like me."

Ash gulped nervously as he watched as Red's eyes bore into him with a calculating expression on his face. Quickly taking a chance Ash took a quick glance at Professor Oak only to find the Pokémon Professor watching him closely with a knowing smile on his face.

"Kid do you really think I would be here if I did not want to be here?" Red asked with a raised eyebrow causing Ash to stare at him in surprise, "No one can make me do something I do not want to do, besides travelling with you means I get to go to another region and I get to escape the fans and haters too."

"Fans and haters?" Ash asked while Pikachu sat comfortably in his lap allowing his trainer to pet him.

"I have become quiet famous as a Pokémon trainer in this region and won many battles," Red replied as he made sure to carefully word what he said, "Because of this I have got lots of fans who are always chasing after me wanting me to sign something or have an item of clothing...after a while it gets a bit too much. Haters...People are jealous of me and my fame and what I have earned by working hard, there has been cases where I have been attacked by people who want to steal my Pokémon or attack me hoping that I am carrying money..."

"I'm sorry," Ash said suddenly finding that it was the only intelligent thing he could come out with, "A lot of people hate me or treat me weird because of my Narcolepsy, my teacher in school was always worried about me going up on the climbing frame or even crossing a road during a school trip in case I had an attack."

"Would you?" Red asked with a pointed look causing Ash to shake his head madly and pull the willing Pikachu into a hug.

"No because I have my Narcolepsy under control most of the time," Ash answered as he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small plastic jar of pills, "I have my medicine that I take everyday which makes it so I do not suddenly fall asleep through...I am not sure how well it will work as I only started taking it a few days ago."

"And it takes about a week or two for the effects of the medicine to be seen so please Red keep myself and Ash's mother informed of any developments," Professor Oak said suddenly causing Ash to shot him a dark look, "I know that you do not like talking about your Narcolepsy Ash but we have to, what would happen if Red did not know and you ran out of your medicine? Or what if you had an allergic reaction to your medicine?"

At the Professor's words Ash let out a low suffering sigh and looked down into the worried eyes of Pikachu. Emotions washed through Ash through the most powerful ones where self-hate and loathing towards his Narcolepsy.

"I know Professor and I understand but still...I get treated like I am made of glass or I am dumb in some types of situations. At times I feel like I just want to jump out of this body and into another one," Ash admitted as he kept his eyes firmly on Pikachu not wanting to see the pitying look on either of the two older male's faces, "I have worked so hard to get here, everyone said that it might be too dangerous for me to become a trainer as I might develop other medical problems from having Narcolepsy like Cataplexy or I might go through good and bad periods...and the bad periods might really be bad..."

Silence echoed loudly in the room as Ash's insightful and intelligent words sunk into the pair. The sound of the Pokémon outside came through the slightly open window hitting Red like a tonne of bricks. Memories filled Red's mind as he suddenly found himself lost in his experiences as a Pokémon trainer. After a few minutes Red's eyes burned brightly with determination as he made his mind up.

"You are already taking every single safety measure to make sure that nothing can go wrong on our journey and you have a way of getting more medicine if you run out," Red stated more than asked.

"Yes...I will be travelling with you and mum has made sure I can get more of my medicine and any help I need during my travels at any hospital or Pokecenter," Ash replied as he tried to work out the hidden meaning to Red's words, "Why?"

"When I first became a Pokémon trainer I was always second guessing myself and making mistakes, it was not until I got some experience under my belt that things started to get better. If you are willing to work hard and not give up then I am willing to travel around Johto with you Ash. Besides everyone, even if they are not a Pokémon trainer, has good times and bad times in life so you do not have to worry about anything, besides I will be there to help you along with our Pokémon," Red said passionately causing Ash's eyes to go wide with hope.

"Really? You really mean that?" Ash asked with hope and excitement while Pikachu found himself warming up to what looked to be an older version of his new trainer.

"Well said Red," Professor Oak said with a proud smile on his face, it seemed that he had chosen right in making the two boys travelling companions.

"Yes, I really truly mean it Ash," Red said determinedly as he looked Ash straight in the eye without any hesitance, "So, will you travel around Johto with me?"

**To Be Continued...**


End file.
